HTC Q4 Launch Event @ ION Orchard, Salt grill & Sky bar
2nd November 2012 – The guys at The Tech Revolutionist were invited to HTC’s Q4 launch event held at ION Orchard, Salt grill & Sky bar. HTC is collaborating with Singaporean label, DEPRESSION, to showcase their Spring/Summer 2013 collection for the first time alongside the unveiling of HTC’s final 2012 phones, just in time for holiday season.
Entrance to HTC’s Q4 Launch
As expected, HTC was launching their first Windows Phone 8, the HTC 8X at the event. The HTC 8X stole most of the attention during the launch event as it’s one of the first Windows Phone 8 to reach the Singapore market. The HTC One X+, a refresh to the current One XL/One X was also launched on that day, changing the hands of flagship android device from HTC.
High up at 55th Level at ION Orchard
Many regional media attended the launch
Unlike many launch events with keynote speeches from product managers, HTC decided to do it differently this time. With the collaboration with DEPRESSION, they sent down models down the runway with the new HTC Phones, showcasing the phones in a different light.
Model holding on to the HTC 8X
HTC One X+ with a Unicorn?!
Lennard Hoornik, the President of HTC in South Asia surprised the crowd with the launch of another 2 new phones to be added on to their lineup of smartphone devices during his speech. The HTC Desire SV and One SV are both dual SIM phones targetted at business users who travel frequently and who would appreciate the dual SIM feature. Targetted at the emerging markets like India and China, these phones are priced affordably for all, possibly placed in Singapore’s mainstream smartphone segmentation.
Lennard Hoornik launches HTC One SV and Desire SV
HTC Desire SV
HTC Desire SV
HTC Desire SV is new 4.3″ Android smartphone that boasts a Dual Core processor. It seems like Dual Core processors in smartphones are the prerequisite to the market nowadays. To keep prices affordable, display resolution remains at WVGA 480 x 800, which is the bare minimum for current day smartphones. It targets a different market, so a comparison of resolution to other smartphones would not be fair. On the other hand, this phone comes with a 8 Megapixel LED flash enabled camera, which puts it to be one of the best bang for the buck phone on the market.
HTC One SV
HTC One SV
The HTC One SV could possibly be the first LTE enabled dual SIM phones. Its specifications are fairly similar to the Desire SV, other than it being 4G enabled. It runs on Android Ice Cream Sandwich but there will possibly be upgrades to the newest Jelly Bean firmware. Anyway, HTC phones are one of the best supported for custom Android ROMs. You can get Jelly bean on your new phone even before they are officially rolled out.
HTC 8X
HTC 8X Blue
HTC 8X Black
The HTC 8X was announced at Microsoft Windows Phone 8 launch back on 29th October which was promised to come in 4 colours. However, that will not be the case for Singapore. We were told that only the Blue and Black versions are coming to the local market to target the mainstream users. No luck for those who wants a bright new red or yellow to show off your personality with the Windows Phone 8. Colours aside, the phone itself is simply amazing. I owned a previous Windows Phone 7 previously, and can’t be more excited to get my hands on this new Windows Phone 8. Multiple improvements are seen on the new Windows Phone 8 platform, starting with the use of dual-core processors for the phones, namely Qualcomm S4 processor clocked high at 1.5GHz for this device. We’re also talking about insane excessive amount of RAM on this device at 1GB. Sadly, there’s no room for further storage expansion without a microSD card slot. The 8X is limited to 16GB internal storage, which could be insufficient for users who want to watch high definition videos on the amazingly clear 720p resolution screen. Besides the screen, the built in dedicated audio amplifier and Beats Audio equalizer software makes the 8X an amazing entertainment device.
First looks at the HTC 8X
Look at the difference with a Wide-Angle front camera!
Steve Ballmer from Microsoft told us at the launch of Windows Phone 8 that the HTC 8X will differentiate itself from other Windows Phone 8 with its ultra-wide angle front camera. We took the device and compared it to the One X+ and realised the huge difference it actually made! With Skype tightly integrated into Windows Phone 8, the Skype experience will be totally changed with the HTC 8X. Not forgetting LTE, which allows your Skype calls to be even smoother on mobile network than on a WiFi network(well, depends).
HTC 8S
HTC 8S
Personally. I prefer the looks of the 8S more than the 8X. The HTC 8S is the little brother to the 8X, which plans to win customers over with it’s friendly price tag. Similar to the SV series, the 8S comes with a Super LCD2 too, with a resolution of 480 x 800 as well. It is not LTE enabled though. Looking at the good side, it has a microSD card slot which can potentially give you an additional 32GB extra storage. The same processor is found on both the 8S and the 8X to give the promised Windows Phone 8 lagless experience throughout.
First looks at the HTC 8S
HTC One X+
Trying out HTC One X+
HTC One X+
HTC One X+ is the new flagship Android phone from HTC, competing heads on with the popular Samsung Galaxy S III. Comparing the One X+ to the One X, One X+ comes factory installed with Android Jelly Bean (ver 4.1). The CPU is now a faster nVidia Tegra 3 quad core processor clocked at 1.7GHz which is found in many of the ARM powered Windows 8 RT devices now. Performance can be expected when such a great processor is paired with 1GB of phone RAM, placing the One X+ to be one of the most powerful smartphone in terms of computing capabilities in the market. It now comes with LTE and a bigger battery capacity at 2100mAh as compared to previous 1800mAh. The front camera has now been improved from 1.3 to 1.6 Megapixels, but I would much prefer a wide-angle lens used in the front camera to make it a true flagship device.
First looks at the HTC One X+
Word of thanks
Thank you HTC
On behalf of The Tech Revolutionist, I would like to give our thanks to HTC for inviting us to the launch event and keeping us informed of their newest offerings and technologies.
Look out for more reviews and news about HTC via The Tech Revolutionist soon!
